Tag: ordinary moments

Little Places

Journal & Essays

I’ve been thinking of the tiny airport prayer room where I prayed for my Aunt Mary shortly before she died. I’ve been thinking of all the places where I’ve sent my prayers, flying, up to God.

Have all these places made a mark? What is it about the little places which seem so forgettable that makes such an impression on me? The airport chapel. The bicycle shed at Lou and Jean’s. The hospital café. The tree beside the river. The kitchen pantry where I told someone I loved him for the first time.

All these little places seem so ordinary, but they leave an impression I can’t quite explain. But isn’t this, in many ways, the essence of our lives? Celebrating the small, daily things and finding the meaning that’s stuffed inside?

Brief Thoughts (No. 39)

Brief Thoughts

Here, in the light of the sun, we make our way ’round another day. We capture the sense of wonder and merriment, boredom and confusion. It’s all in a day’s work: this compiling of experiences that makes us who we are.

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The trouble is – many people are taking a narrow view, when a wide view would suit them much better.

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The threat of terror is upon you again. The threat of everything collapsing all at once. How do you write about that? How do you put that kind of fear, of desperation, into words? Sometimes, the only thing worth doing is admitting that you’re powerless to explain anything that’s going on in this highly insane life.

Brief Thoughts (No. 4)

Brief Thoughts

Among the breakthroughs are lots and lots of ordinary things, laid out very unobtrusively. But these are necessary, too. For the human heart can’t typically thrum at a constantly elevated vibration. What we need are periods of stability and calm to support us when it’s time to soar.

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